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Astrophotography

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Milky Way

Our Milky Way Galaxy is one of the most mysterious galaxies we observe. That’s because we’re studying it from inside its spiral disk, surrounded by its stars, gas, and dust. But what we do see tells us a lot about the Milky Way’s formation. Astronomers have managed to piece together a map of what our galaxy looks like from the outside, though even counting its spiral arms has been a lesson in humility.

Astronomers have mapped the cosmic watershed and discovered a massive supercluster that extends more than 500 million light-years and contains 100,000 large galaxies. The Milky Way sits on the edge of this humongous structure.

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Featured Observing Resources

Our calendar combines gorgeous astrophotography and special sky scenes that illustrate the positions of the Moon and bright planets. It also highlights the important celestial events of every month, including solar and lunar eclipses, meteor showers, conjunctions, and occultations of bright stars by the Moon.